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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-09952

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 19 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to help people with arthritis to stay in the workforce following their diagnosis.

In December 2016, the Scottish Government launched A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People—Our Delivery Plan to 2021 for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which includes £3 million of funding for the active and independent living improvement programme. That programme helps to ensure that those who develop health conditions such as arthritis while in employment can find the support that they need to stay in work. From April this year, we have been using devolved employability powers to provide Scottish employment services for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to help them to find work and to stay in work. We have also committed to exploring new ways of integrating health, disability and employment support in Scotland to ensure that people can find their way quickly to the tailored and person-centred support that they need.

Question reference: S5W-09953

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 19 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to (a) incentivise companies to hire and (b) reduce discrimination experienced by people with musculoskeletal conditions.

As part of our disability action plan published in December last year we have committed to run a disability employment media campaign. This was launched on 6^th July 2017 and is specifically targeted at Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. The campaign highlights the benefits of employing disabled people, and signposts employers, as well as potential employees, to the Employability in Scotland website where they can find advice, guidance and support, as well as information of which organisations provide this, and where employers can find financial support to employ someone with a disability. The campaign will include new video materials to promote these messages, as well as a radio campaign and other media including social media.

In our action plan we also committed to holding a major congress on disability employment, which is likely to take place early in 2018. We will work closely with partners to deliver this, and that will include also employers and employer trade organisations and bodies. We will also work with trade unions, disabled people and organisations supporting disabled people.

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, part of NHS Health Scotland, to provide information and advice on workplace health and wellbeing. The Centre, and the network of advisers in territorial NHS Boards, offer free and confidential advice on a wide range of issues relating to health and safety in the workplace. This includes promoting wellbeing in the workplace, managing sickness absence and supporting employees to return to work.

The Centre's advice includes how employers can meet their obligations under the Equality Act and how they can make reasonable adjustments to support employees with long term, limiting health conditions and disabilities.

Question reference: S5W-09964

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to ensure that public transport employees are fully trained to assist disabled people.

You may remember that we published Going Further - Scotland’s Accessible Travel Framework on 21 September last year, which was designed in co-production with disabled people, transport providers and government to ensure that people who work in public transport understand the needs and wishes of disabled people, have the knowledge to help disabled travellers and are accredited with disability and equality awareness training. This drive for increased knowledge and training adds to the already established Scottish Government commitment for disability awareness training being an essential part of the procurement tender process.

Question reference: S5W-09969

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to tackle the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Smoking is the cause of almost all chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Scotland, and the action being taken through the Scottish Government's tobacco control strategy - Creating a Tobacco-free Generation - is reducing smoking rates which will help tackle the incidence of COPD. Plans to reduce the incidence further include: targeted campaigns on the effectiveness of stop-smoking services and the harms of second-hand smoke; and the introduction of offences for smoking around hospital buildings and the move to make prisons tobacco-free.

Our Health and Social Care Delivery Plan published in December 2016 sets out our aim for Scotland to provide high quality services with a focus on prevention, early intervention and supported self-management. The plan sits alongside our National Clinical Strategy, which evidenced the need to change the way services are delivered in order to continue meet the healthcare needs of our population, setting out the framework for developing health services in Scotland for the next 10-20 years, including people living with Chronic Respiratory Disease.

These policies will be complimented by the existing work to implement the tobacco control strategy and the development of Respiratory Health: Quality Improvement Plan. We are working closely with the Respiratory National Advisory Group to support local improvement in respiratory diagnosis, treatment and care through the Plan.

Question reference: S5W-09801

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to each of the recommendations in the Hospice UK report, Hospice care and care homes in Scotland, and what action it plans or is taking to implement these.

The Scottish Government supports the recommendations contained in the “Hospice care and care homes in Scotland” report. This report promotes closer working relationships between Scotland’s hospices and care homes to reduce inequalities and improve outcomes for those residing in care homes at the end of their lives, which is aligned with the aims of our Strategic Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care and wider programme of health and social care integration.

The Scottish Government has committed to doubling the provision of palliative care in the community by 2021. However, determining specific actions to address each of the report’s recommendations will be a matter for the relevant Integration Authority in each area, according to the needs and circumstances of the local population.

Question reference: S5W-10022

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to bring the fire safety regulations for social rented housing in line with the requirements for private rented sector.

Following the devastating fire in Grenfell Tower in London, the Scottish Government established a Ministerial Working Group to oversee a review of building and fire safety regulations, with an initial focus on high rise domestic buildings.

Actions agreed by the Group include bringing forward a consultation this year on fire safety standards in housing in Scotland, with part of this to consider harmonising smoke detector requirements across different housing tenures.

Question reference: S5W-10179

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on which commitments made in its report, Age, Home and Community: A Strategy for Housing for Scotland’s Older People: 2012 - 2021, have been achieved.

Question reference: S5W-09777

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities on 13 June 2017 (Official Report, c. 12), whether it will provide an update on what progress it is making in fulfilling the cabinet secretary’s commitment to (a) engage with stakeholders on the prevention of online hatred and misogyny, (b) engage with stakeholders to ensure that the term “hate crime” applies to an event from the perspective of both the victim and the perpetrator, (c) build dialogue on the understanding of links between prejudice and hate crime, (d) review the effectiveness of third party reporting, including what action it will use to improve the effectiveness, (e) better protect people who experience hate crime on public transport, (f) implement the action plan on disability to address the underreporting of disability hate crime, (g) develop firmer definitions of “hate crime” and “prejudice” and (h) adopt the international definition for anti-Semitism, including when this will be adopted; which agencies will be included in the multi-agency delivery group to take forward the advisory group’s recommendations and when it will publish its refreshed approach to anti-bullying.

We are committed to doing all that we can to prevent and eradicate hate crime and prejudice, and build community cohesion. As set out in my statement on 13 June and in our response to the Independent Advisory Group, the Scottish Government will now take forward an ambitious programme of work in response to their recommendations.

The actions we have set out will be implemented between now and 2020 when we will publish an update on progress. We are currently in the process of establishing the multi-agency delivery group which, amongst other things, will look at how we address barriers to reporting, consider issues around online abuse and how we use the definition of anti-Semitism adopted on 16 June to inform our work in this area. We will continue to implement our disability action plan and take forward the development of a hate crime charter for public transport in partnership with disabled people’s organisations. We will also publish our refreshed National Approach to anti-bullying later in 2017.

Link to the Scottish Government's response to the Report of the Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, Prejudice and Community Cohesion: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/06/1336

Question reference: S5O-01160

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed policing in Edinburgh with Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-09255

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £150 million that it announced for mental health in 2015 (a) remains unallocated and (b) has been allocated, broken down by (i) initiative and (ii) how long it will apply for.

The £150 million commitment for innovation and improvement was first made to begin in the calendar year 2016, running to the end of 2020. This was subsequently updated and built upon following the most recent Programme for Government (PFG) to be at least £150million from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

We have been clear on the intention that at least £150 million will be spent on innovation and improvement over both five year periods. In short, the £25.4 million spent for innovation and improvement prior to 2017-18 is in addition to the £150 million set out in the most recent PFG.

In 2017-18 the contribution to the £150million fund is £30 million. Allocations for this and future years are under consideration and will be subject to future Spending Reviews and decisions by Scottish Ministers and Parliament.